


In Which the Customer is not Always Right

by Staria82



Series: The Customer is not Always Right [1]
Category: Loki - Fandom, Loki: Agent of Asgard, MCU, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Friendship/Love, Love, Romance, Telepathy, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 05:46:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12550496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Staria82/pseuds/Staria82
Summary: Bruna loved her job as a barista until the day she screwed up Loki's order...





	1. In Which the Customer is not Always Right

**Author's Note:**

> Bruna loved her job as a barista until the day she screwed up Loki's order...

I was in a hurry and needed everyone to get fuck out of my way. The morning was cool, the sun slowly rising as I was quickly walking- no, running- to Midnight Cafe, a small coffee shop where I was currently one of the baristas. My phone alarm had failed to go off because I forgot to charge it, so of course I woke up an hour late in a frenzy with barely any time left to brush my teeth, put on the first thing I found on the floor and bolt out the door.

As I sped running down the street I double-checked what had I put on this morning: black leggings, a sleeveless oversized olive colored shirt over my black sports bra, and red keds… could be worse. I braided my waist-length teal colored hair on the way to work.

Not that I was proud or anything, but I was so used to doing this that I could do it in my sleep. 

I barely made it on time, but glad that I was not late for the third time this week. If I had to listen to my manager, Brad, say one more time that the early bird catches the worm, I was gonna have to bitch slap him around.

I put on my apron as I punched in my arrival time and immediately went to my work area so I could read the screen with all the orders and quickly start dispatching beverages.

My first order of the day was a cappuccino, a latte, and a frozen hot chocolate, so I began getting the cappuccino and latte ready while my best friend and coworker, Jessica, finished the frozen hot chocolate. She glanced at me and gave me a huge grin and I waved back at her, no need for words. That was my Jessica, always happy, always positive.

I really loved being a barista, it’s all about getting the orders ready as fast as possible during rush time, especially during the mornings. As a chronic over thinker this gives me a break to just be in the moment without analyzing every little detail around me.

It also gives me a break from hearing people’s thoughts here and there. Yup, I’m one of those. But nothing too bad, I just hear tidbits of people’s thoughts here and there. I swear, I’m the worst telepath ever, I have no control whatsoever over this thing. It took me the longest time to figure out that I was a telepath and not just hearing voices in my head.

Once rush began dying down and people began heading to their respective jobs, I decided to go to the back and get myself something to drink because I was totally parched. I got some cold water while secretly wishing it was something stronger like vodka.

As soon as I get back there’s a few orders waiting so I start to work on a coffee for a non-regular. It’s a double shot espresso with two shots of cream and spice caramel for Lucky. I chuckled to myself as I was getting the drink ready because some people have the silliest nicknames ever, I’ve seen worse but this one was still kinda dumb.

After the espresso machine finished brewing the coffee shots, I poured the coffee in a bone white cup, I added two shots of cream and a few pumps of spice caramel syrup. I cleaned the side of the mug and got ready to hand it to the customer. “Lucky!” I yelled, “Order for Lucky!” while putting the drink on the pick-up counter area for the customer.

I was already adding whipped cream to a coffee when I clearly hear in my head a guy thinking about how stupid I must be to screw up his drink. The thing is I just make whatever it says on the order screen, not my fault that Amy, our new employee, screwed up an order again for like the fifth time this week. Now I’m was gonna have to fix her fuck up. Awesome.

I was super mad but I slowly turned around, ready for whatever bullshit this guy was going to say to me. I see a guy glaring at me like I just insulted his mother. He was actually kinda hot in a goth kind of way. Tall and lean with bright green eyes, black hair, and pale skin plus tall all dressed up in a black three piece suit. He would have been my type, all dark and handsome, but I could tell he was an asshole which was an automatic turn off for me.

He just stared at me without saying a word and I wanted him to get the fuck out of my way as soon as possible so I talked to him in my sugary customer service voice.

“I’m sorry sir, is there anything I can help you with?” I said, I following the question with a super practiced innocent smile.

He sneered at me, and drily answered, “First off, my name is Loki, not Lucky.”

There was a dramatic pause before he gave me a very menacing smile and continued, “This drink is completely wrong. I was very specific when I said that I didn’t want any of those nasty syrups like spice caramel or whatever they are called.” 

The jerk then slammed the cup down making it splash coffee all over me.

“But here I am, drinking pure sugar.”

I grabbed a towel and began cleaning my apron as he continued, “I want a new drink before you give anyone else their drink.”

I wanted to throw the freaking coffee cup with the scalding liquid at him, but I really needed this job so I took a deep breath and settled with imagining different way to tell him to fuck off.

I threw the mug in the sink before quickly remaking the order without the spice caramel and handed it to him. He glared at me before leaving without even saying thank you at all. What an ass.

After he left I was just glad to be done with the idiot and got on with my day. I thought I would probably never see him again.

But of course I was wrong.

The next day at work I was busily making a latte and had completely forgotten about the jerk from the day before when I saw him come in the coffee shop. So much for not seeing him ever again.

Luckily for me, Jessica was the one that got to prepare his coffee. I get a tidbit of Jessica’s thoughts, she’s way too excited about being the chosen one to get the jerk’s order. He was hot alright, but again, an asshole.

He decided to stand right next to my prep station on the other side of the counter to wait for his coffee. I swear he went out of his way to stand there just to coldly stare at me, judging, waiting for me to acknowledge him. I tried to concentrate, willing myself to not listen to his thoughts but I heard loud and clear that he still thought I was the worst barista ever.

He was pissing me off so much that I accidentally dropped a hot coffee drink and got it all over myself. Make that two days in a row that I get a drink all over me thanks to him. When I turned around to grab a towel I couldn’t help but look in his direction only to realize he was giving me a smug look.

He used the moment to say, “It looks like you need to be more careful with those,” while pointing to the cup in my hand, “or you might get hot liquid all over yourself.”

Once more he made me want to throw a mug at him but Jessica gave me a stern look as she was handing him his drink. Sometimes I feel like she’s the telepath.

As soon as she showed up he completely ignored me and directed all of his attention to Jessica. He thanked her while slowly nodding his head at her like she was fucking royalty.

He then tasted his coffee and dramatically sighed before saying, “Mmmm. Now this is how I like my coffee. Thank you for a perfect cup.”

He then glared at me before he walked to a table where he sat down. The asshole was really getting on my nerves.

When I turned to Jessica ready to start my rant I noticed that she was smiling like Loki had just asked for her maiden hand. I was so furious that I said to her, “Oh my God, Jessica, really? He compliments your coffee once and you get your fucking panties all wet? Jesus, I thought you had better taste.”

Her cheeks got all red but she quickly fired back by saying, “Ugh, Bruna, don’t be jealous. He said he liked the drink, nothing else. You can make Mr Dreamy Eyes his drink tomorrow if it’s that important for you.”

I sarcastically laughed before saying, “Fuck no! You can make him his coffee everyday for all I care! He’s such an asshole.”

As I said this I glanced where Loki was sitting only to realize he saw me looking at him. I tried to smile but he just scoffed at me before getting back to his book. He was too far away from to hear us but I felt like he knew we were talking about him. 

“Jessica, I swear, he’s the biggest asshole ever” I said, as I stopped working on the Flat White I was preparing, “Look at him all smug in that corner. Didn’t you see the evil look he just gave me?”

Jessica stopped pouring chocolate syrup to a drink, and said as she rolled her eyes, “Oh my God, really? He’s so not staring at you.”

She glanced in his direction, looked back at me, and continued, “Are you going to obsess over him like you did with the woman that liked the plain untoasted bagels? Because that whole thing was not fun. There’s only so many rants that I can tolerate from you on the proper way to eat a bagel.”

“No! I was not obsessed! I just… really disliked her. She yelled at me once,” I said, then I whispered, “She was a total bitch.”

Jessica guffawed and was about to say something else when Brad kindly yelled at us from the cash register area to remind us that socialization should happen after work. Someone was being crabby today.

We got back to full swing getting orders ready, not a single word between me and Jessica but I continued thinking about Loki. I usually don’t let customers get to me but for some reason he was getting under my skin and I wanted to punch his smug face. I glanced at him one last time only to realize that he had been looking at me. He smirked and slowly went back to his book.

Oh yes, I definitely wanted to punch his smug face.


	2. In Which a Wrong is Made Right

A couple of weeks had passed by and Loki would stop by the coffee shop almost everyday to get the same cup of coffee. Every time he would insist that Jessica had to be the one to make him his coffee and every time he would go out of his way to be super nice to her.

Actually, he was nice to everyone but me, but I had gotten used to it. It’s not like I gave a flying fuck about him.That is until one day Jessica wasn’t in and I was the only barista available to get his order ready.

“Where’s Jessica?” he asked Brad, while drumming his fingers against the counter at the order area.

“She called off sick today, but Bruna is an excellent barista and will have your drink ready in no time,” said Brad, in his stupid customer service voice which was his regular way of talking. The guy was peppy all the time, no matter the time. That’s why I always felt like I was about to punch him.

“Does she really have to be the one to make my coffee today, Brad?” said Loki, looking at him like someone was trying to make him drink lead.

Brad seemed conflicted about what to do, there was a line to the door behind Loki and switching places with me would take at least five minutes.

Finally he said, “Sorry, Loki, it would take too long for us to switch places. I apologize for the inconvenience, bro,” while looking completely uncomfortable at the situation.

Loki frowned and sighed but I wasn’t sure if it was because of Jessica or because Brad called him bro. If I hadn’t been so pissed, I would have laughed at the situation.

“I am not happy with Jessica being absent today, but I guess I’ll let the other one get it ready for me this one time. I can’t expect to have greatness everyday I guess,” he said, while pointing his finger in my direction like I was the plague. He then glared at me before paying for his drink and Brad laughed at his comment like it was the greatest joke ever.

For a second there I wanted to add a whole bunch of salt to his coffee just to mess with him but I stopped myself only because I really need this job. I can’t keep getting fired for doing stupid shit like this.

I grudgingly accepted my lot in life, prepared the coffee the way he wanted it and put it on the counter for him to grab it. I didn’t even call his name because I figured the asshole would know when his drink was ready. He must have grabbed it while I had my back turned because when I looked again, it was not there.

At least twenty minutes must have gone by before I saw him approaching me. I tried to read his thoughts but couldn’t get anything because of course it would not work when I needed it to, so I sighed waiting for the worse. I was expecting him to just start bitching about how bad the coffee was.

Instead, to my astonishment, he was kinda nice about it. 

“It seems like you’ve had some practice since the last time you made me a drink. I could almost say it was good.”

“Good. Maybe that will stop you from being such an ass all the time,” I said, before I could stop myself from being a total smartass. Probably an unemployed smartass after this.

Loki just laughed at my remark before saying, “Seems like we have a feisty one right here. Maybe you aren’t as incompetent as I thought.”

His reaction completely threw me off as I was expecting him to be furious, demanding that I get fired immediately. Instead he thought my attitude was amusing.

“If I were you I would be careful with that tongue of yours. It might get you in trouble,” he said, as winked at me and walked away.

I stood there bewildered. I didn’t even have a comeback, all I could think was What the fuck just happened?

* * * * *

Later that day things at work were going super slow after the morning rush, so Brad had the totally not awesome idea to ask me if I could sweep the floor. God forbid I’m not doing something for 5 seconds while at work.

I didn’t want to sweep, but I was kinda glad I had something to do besides cleaning the espresso machine for the fiftieth time. I began sweeping around the tables but I immediately realized that I could go sweep outside and get paid while getting some fresh air. Sometimes I felt like I was a genius. I stood outside and took a deep breath. The day was beautiful, cool weather and not a cloud on sight.

After a sweeping for a while, I spaced out thinking about a million different things at once (because sweeping is boring even if I’m hanging out outside) when I realized that I was sweeping someone’s black leather shoes. I immediately stopped and slowly looked up only to find myself face to face with Loki. Crap, and here I thought he was finally going to be more normal with me, way to fuck up genius!

“It seem like sweeping is not your calling, darling,” he said sarcastically, “usually it doesn’t involve sweeping all over people’s shoes.”

I was so embarrassed by my blunder that it took me a few seconds before I said, “Crap, I’m sorry, I zoned out. I swear I didn’t mean to get dirt all over your fancy shoes,” sounding all flustered.

“No need to worry. At least you’ve gotten better at being a barista. Keep the practice up with this and you might get good at sweeping one day,” he said, patting me in the arm before grinning. “So, you said you spaced out, what were you thinking about?”

“I… was… thinking about space? Like space, space, out there.” I said, pointing towards the sky and not too sure I wanted to share my thoughts with him.

“So, you spaced out thinking about space? I was not expecting that. What about space?” he said, while looking me up and down. It was like he had finally realized that I was a three-dimensional being.

“Nothing important really,” I said, feeling self conscious and regretting opening my mouth. Other people would just lie, but I had to go and be freaking honest, “Just trying to imagine what other worlds would look like out there. That’s it.”

I don’t think he knew what to make of what I had just said, so he just laughed once more and said, “Good, an inquisitive mind will always keep you amused.”

He didn’t give me a chance to answer before he walked away into the coffee shop, so I tried to go back to sweeping, but I was feeling weird about our exchange. That’s when I gave up about pretending I was actually working, sat down in one of the patio chairs and pulled out my phone.

A few minutes later he came back out and said, “Keep up the good work and don’t get lost in space,” and winked at me.

I was still feeling like a freaking moron, so I was only able to mumble a thank you as he walked away with a soda in his hand. I’m usually quick with a comeback but his change in attitude towards me totally threw me off… and I still felt like an idiot for blurting out that thing about space. Who the fuck says something like that?

He was already halfway down the street, when he stopped and turned back. Once he got closer to where I was sitting he asked, “I never got your name. I’m pretty sure you know mine,” he said, giving me a beaming smile.

“I’m Bruna, like the name tag says,” I said, pointing to the nametag on my shirt, finally getting back to being my smartass normal self.

“Well, I had never noticed that there. Nice to meet you, Bruna.”

He slowly waved his hand turned around and continued walking down the street when I heard his voice in my head: Not bad for a Midgardian, not bad.

I was so glad at that moment that he had left before I got that thought tidbit, because I could feel my cheeks blushing.

* * * * *

Ok. So the next day he was back at the coffee shop… again… for the third day in a row this week. He usually stops by every other day but this week seemed to be extra special.

At least Jessica was back and she could resume her job as Loki’s official barista. He seemed to be warming up to me, but that didn’t mean he was going to become my favorite customer all of a sudden.

“Look, Jessica, your boyfriend’s here,” I said, poking her in the ribs with my elbow to get her attention.

“Oh, stop it! He’s not my boyfriend!” said Jessica, trying to swat me away with a towel.

He walked to the waiting area after ordering his coffee and said hi to me before walking to his usual table. I was surprised at his friendliness but Jessica’s face was worth a million pictures. She had missed everything yesterday and I never got around telling her about it.

“What the heck? Bruna, he talked to you,” she said, looking at me like I’d just sprouted a second head.

“Yup. Things happened yesterday. That’s why you should never leave me by myself,” I said, trying not to gloat and then I told her about all that happened with Loki the day before. She was completely stunned at his change of attitude towards me. I think she was a little bit jealous of the whole thing, but I assured her that I still hated his guts for being such a jerk to me for so long. She could totally keep him.

Before leaving he stopped by to talk to Jessica and ended up talking to me as well. He even directed actual nice words at me.

Ok, maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.


	3. In Which a Friendship is Tested

After a few months of seeing Loki regularly at the coffee shop, things had fallen into a regular pattern were he would come in, get a drink, and talk to all of us for a bit. He was now talking to me as well and didn’t mind me preparing his coffee but he still prefered Jessica’s over mine, which was fine by me. I was mostly glad that we were over the awkward I-think-you’re-the-worst-barista-ever phase, because there’s nothing worse than having an annoying customer bitching about you all the time.

One day, me and Jessica were talking after the morning rush when Loki came for his coffee. He approached us and greeted us in the usual way.

“Good morning, my lovely beauties.”

“Good morning, Loki,” we said in unison like we were one of Charlie’s Angels.

“Who’s the lucky girl that gets to make my coffee today,” he said, beaming while reclining his arms on the counter looking from side to side at me and Jessica. Someone was in and extra good mood today.

“I will get it for you, Loki,” said Jessica, before I could say anything. She winked at him, turned around and began getting it ready.

Loki then looked at me expectantly and was about to talk to me when I grabbed some mugs and pretended to clean them even though they were clean and dry. My back was turned to him but I could feel his eyes focused on me when he said, “That’s a lovely necklace you are wearing. I’ve seen you wear it a few times before.”

“Thank you, it was a gift from Jessica,” I said, smiling while I grabbed the necklace to look at it.

I also heard his voice echoing in my head. Lovely, just like her eyes.

Goddamnit, I really didn’t want to know what he was thinking about me. I’ve always felt that hearing other people’s thoughts in my head was like eavesdropping on someone’s private conversation, I have no right to know these things, and now I know that he maybe likes me or my eyes at least.

After a while I was not sure if I had really heard his thoughts, maybe I was imagining things, I didn’t get much sleep after all because I was up all night watching TV and painting.

Eventually, I tentatively turned around to see what he was doing only to come face to face with him. I didn’t mean to but our eyes locked and I could feel myself blushing, so I grabbed a towel and began cleaning the counter like a maniac.

“Are you ok? You look like you might have a fever,” said Loki, lookings somewhat worried while reaching across the counted to put his cool hand against my forehead. “No, just a tad warm but nothing too bad,” he said, leaving his hand against my forehead and never taking his eyes off of me.

“Yeah, I think I’m allergic to you,” I said, laughing sarcastically.

He removed his hand from my forehead while rolling his eyes before laughing as well. “Why would you say something like that? I bring joy to your life,” he said, faking innocence before asking, “Don’t I?”

I rolled my eyes, “Sure, as much joy as a bullet to the head.”

“Are you trying to say that you don’t like me?” he said playfully.

“Not really, but I’m pretty sure you like me more than I like you, especially my eyes, right?” I said, before I could stop myself.

Eventually I was gonna have to work on having a filter between my brain and my mouth because I can’t keep saying out loud whatever pops in my head. But that day was not that day.

“Well, maybe I do,” he said, smiling slyly at me as Jessica came up to us and gave him his coffee, saving me from having to answer back. Just in time.

He thanked us and walked away to sit down in his usual table with his book.

I quickly went back to work, feeling embarrassed about my slip up. Hell, I felt embarrassed about the whole interaction. I was so lost in my thoughts that it took me a while to realize that Jessica was giving me a funny look but I decided to ignore her because I didn’t want to add more weirdness to this shitty day.

I heard Jessica’s voice loud and clear in my head anyway. It was like she wanted me to hear her thoughts on Loki. Of course she’s completely ignoring that he likes her. Jesus, how dumb can she be?

“So, what do you think about Loki, Jessica? Are you ever going to try to ask him out?” I said, knowing fully well that she knew that I knew what she was thinking. I shouldn’t have said anything but I was not too happy with her right now. Also, I was completely aware that she had a huge crush on him and yet I decided to be an asshole.

She stopped cleaning the counter for a second and she swore under her breath. She knew that I had been reading her thoughts, of course, “I don’t know Bruna, why don’t you ask him out since he seems to like you more?”

“Jessica, really? I asked you a simple question, no need to get all defensive,” I said, dropping the spoons I was washing in the sink.

She didn’t say anything to me and went to the back of the coffee shop. I continued washing the dishes while fuming at what she had said (or thought, it can get confusing). She returned a few minutes later and said, “I told Brad and what’s-her-face-new-girl to cover for us, we need to talk. Let’s go take a five minute break outside.”

I dropped the dishes and obediently followed her outside where she took out a cigarette and lit it with a cheap plastic lighter. She inhaled and exhaled the smoke a few times before talking.

“I think you need to accept that you have a crush on him and that he has crush on you,” she said taking another puff before continuing, “I know it’s been awhile since you’ve dated, but you have to start again at some point.”

“Jesus Christ, you said you needed to talk to me, like you had something important to say to me. This is bullshit and you know it. I don’t care if I haven’t dated in like fifty years, I don’t have a crush on him,” I said, completely omitting the part about him liking me because that part was true, maybe, I just didn’t want to think about it or discuss it.

“Ok, sure, you don’t like him,” she said, getting agitated and pointing the cigarette at me in an accusatory way, “but explain to me why do you try to hide in the back whenever he comes in.”

“Well, I don’t know Jessica, maybe I have more important stuff to do than wait around for him to come in everyday to make his fucking coffee.”

“Bullshit,” she said, laughing somewhat bitterly, “I’ve seen the way you smile at him, all giggly, like a high school girl. You put on that whole innocent girl act every time you like someone.”

I sighed before saying, “You want to fuck him, so you make that stupid coffee for him everyday. Get over it. You can have any guy you want but you insist on liking the ones that aren’t interested in you.”

Jessica looked at me like I had slapped her, “You know what? I’m not getting into this. I might not be a mind reader, but I think I’ve known you long enough to know when you really like someone” she said throwing her cigarette butt to the ground, “you are in denial. Remember how in denial you were about Mark?”

Hearing his name was like being stabbed through the heart, “He was cheating on me,” I said, trying not to cry but I could feel the tears running down my face.

“Bruna, sweetie,” She said, trying to talk to me in a softer tone, “you followed Mark around for days, watching him having fun with the other girl, listening to all the things they said to each other. You didn’t tell me about it until like two weeks later and you were a wreck. It’s been three years, it’s time for you to move on.”

“I don’t have to. That’s all the reason I need. I don’t want to date anyone ever again,” I said, before using my apron to wipe away the tears, “I can’t be here right now. Could you please tell Brad that I got sick and went home?”

I didn’t even wait for Jessica to respond before walking back to the coffee shop to grab my purse. I then left through the back door before anyone could see me.


	4. In Which Things are not What They Seem

A few days later while I was walking back home, I kept thinking about the awful things I had said to Jessica. It had been three days but we were still not talking to each other and maybe being roommates made things worse.

Things at work were super awkward and I think Brad was about to snap from being our mediator all the time. I swear he had even developed a nervous tick under his left eye. It was weird, but I felt bad for him and everything.

I stopped by my favorite bookstore because buying new books always make me feel better and maybe I could forget about feeling guilty about something that was not my fault. The bookstore has been in this corner for more that 40 years and it’s my favorite place in the whole city, I could spend hours in holed up in here and never get tired. Also, when people are distracted by books I can rest my brain from being bombarded by the constant blabber that is people’s thoughts. I don’t want to overhear tidbits about how bad you feel for cheating on your wife.

I sat down in a corner to browse all the books I had stacked on the floor when I noticed that a girl that I’ve seen around a few times sat down on the floor across from me with a stack of books as well. She gave me a flirty smile before grabbing a book on astronomy.

I’ve seen her a few times at the coffee shop and talked to her but I couldn’t remember her name.

“That looks like a good book, I’ve always wanted to learn more about the different royalty lineages of Earth,” she said, pointing to my book.

“All of Earth?” I said, while laughing a little bit at such a weird statement.

“Well, not all of Earth, that’s a lot,” she said grinning, “I know you from somewhere, but I can’t recall from where.”

“Yeah, you seem familiar as well. I work at Midnight Coffee Shop a few blocks down the street.”.

She had beautiful green eyes and raven black hair that made her skin look super pale. She was dressed in a black dress with leggings and knee high boots that flattered her tall and slender figure.

“Oh, yeah, I remember you now, I go there once in awhile. I love that place,” she said putting the book on top of her stack, “I’m Lori.”

“I’m-”

“Bruna, I remember you now,” she said, while getting up from the floor, “I was about to get some ice cream form across the street, would you like to come with me? They have a salted caramel ice cream that’s to die for.”

I tried to read her thoughts and all I got was some of her thought on how much she loves ice cream. Finally, this brain thing worked when I wanted it to only to hear useless information. Awesome.

I got up from the floor as well and accepted her invitation. I could never say no to ice cream and cute girls.

* * * * *

Lori was right, the salted caramel was delicious.

We sat outside on the patio even though it was already night time and getting a little chilly. She looked at me expectantly, her bright green eyes shimmering, while eating ice cream like she was waiting for me to talk, and it kinda reminded me of Loki.

Could I just stop thinking about him already?

Freaking Jessica. Pressuring me to like someone I don’t like now had me thinking about him. 

“Seems like I was right and you do love the salted caramel, darling,” said Lori, smiling at me, “I love how the caramel matches your skin,” giving me a beaming smile.

I might be a smartass, always quick with a sarcastic comment, but I’m not very good at making conversation with people when they are so direct. All I could do was blush and mutter a thank you like I was a shy wallflower. I really liked her but her direct approach was making me nervous.

She seemed to notice my change in mood because she immediately said, “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I was just admiring your beautiful skin color,” smiling once more at me. She then abruptly changed the subject, “I think I want to try something new. I’m going to get another scoop, do you want anything?” All I could do was mumble a polite no thank you and get back to my ice cream.

Once she went back in, I thought really hard about whether I should stay or go. I liked her, but at the same time I didn’t want to like her. I couldn’t exactly pinpoint why, but I was feeling so weird about the whole thing. I felt like I wanted to be somewhere else and not here.

I was still debating what to do, when she came back with what seemed a chocolate ice cream scoop in a cone, she then said, “I’m done with sitting down, my feet don’t hurt anymore. I swear that sometimes it’s not worth it being in a female form,” making me laugh at her weird comment.

“Wanna walk around for a bit?” She said, licking her ice cream and looking at me coyly. The way she said it made my heart thump and I decided right then that I had nothing to lose. She seemed nice and she was funny as hell. I wanted to see where this was going after all.

We walked around talking about so many things. We would start talking about something and then jump to another subject and then right back to the first one. I talk to customers all day but I almost never have a real conversation so this was refreshing.

She was still eating her ice cream when she turned to me and said, “Do you want to try the ice cream?” she said, shoving it in my face, “it’s something something road.”

I chuckled and tried it, “Fuck, this is probably the best Rocky Road that I’ve ever tried.”

“Oh wait, you still have some on your face,” she said, reaching with her thumb to wipe off the ice cream from my face, “You smell so good, just like coffee, my love.”

“Perks of working at a coffee shop,” I said, being totally oblivious to what was about to happen. That’s when she leaned in and kissed me. I was so not expecting that. She tasted just like chocolate and marshmallows. Lori then cupped my the back of my head with her hand and kissed me even deeper, intertwining her tongue playfully with mine. I breathed raggedly against her, my hands reaching to caress her slender waist. She moved her other hand and placed it on my back holding me closer to her. I had never been kissed like this before.

I was really into this but at the same time I knew that I was scared of where this was going. Was I going to start allowing people back into my life just like that?

I felt like a jackass but I realized halfway through the kiss that even though I had the hots for this girl, I was really afraid of getting out there and getting my heart broken once more. Fuck, I owed Jessica an apology.

I slowly backed away from her embrace and said, “Lori, I’m sorry but I can’t do this. I need to go.”

“What? Why? I thought we were having fun,” she said, looking hurt.

“We were, but… I can’t explain. I’m sorry,” I said, feeling like shit.

“Is there someone else maybe?” she asked, scoffing at me.

“I feel so bad about this, I feel like I misled you, Lori.”

She glared at me and finally said, “That’s fine. I guess there is someone else. You should have said something instead of wasting my time all of this time.”

“No, I just… I don’t know.”

She looked coldly at me and as she crossed her arms a green light engulfed her as she shifted into someone else. It was Loki, of course. This was just my motherfucking luck.

“What the fuck? You are a shapeshifter?” I said, raising my arms in frustration. I was so fucking done dealing with him. Everything was all about Loki and how fucking awesome he was.

“Amongst other things,” he said, smiling. God, I couldn’t handle his smug face, all proud of his little parlor trick.

“You fucking asshole, do you just go around tricking people into making out with you?” I said, pushing my index finger against his chest as hard as I could but it was like he was made of stone, he didn’t move an inch.

“Tricking people?” he said, looking vexed at my response, “Bruna, I’ve been trying to approach you for months and you don’t seem to respond to me. I figured you were into girls.”

“Well I am, but that doesn’t mean you can do this!”

“Why not? You don’t like a form, I can change to another one. Everyone’s happy,” he said, shrugging.

“Because I don’t like you like that.”

As soon as I said it, I realized that I was lying to him and to myself. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. It freaked me out so much that I just turned around and left. I needed to go to Jessica, she was right about everything. So make that a double apology.

* * * *

Once I got home, I stood in front of the door not sure on how to proceed. I wanted to barge in and make up but I was scared shitless that Jessica wouldn’t want to be my friend anymore. This was freaking ridiculous, friends should never fight over a guy.

I could hear her through the door singing her lungs out, I could also smell the dinner she was getting ready for herself. Hearing her made my eyes water because I missed her so much, so I swallowed my pride and looked for my keys to open the door. That’s when I realized I didn’t have them with me. I swallowed my pride once more and knocked on the door.

She opened a small crack and said, “Forgot your keys?” Still sounding very angry at me as she slammed the door in my face.

I knocked once more, “Jessica, please open the door, I kinda want to apologize.”

“No need to apologize,” she said, through the door, “You made it very clear that you don’t need my help.”

“No, Jessica, I was wrong. I do need you,” I said, in a small voice, smaller than I had intended to.

She opened the door cautiously letting in me, “Go on,” she said while holding a spatula in her hand.

“I fucked up, alright? You were right, I have problems letting people into my life,” I stayed quiet for a second before whispering, “I do have feelings for Loki.” I wasn’t too sure she heard me but I continued talking fast and trying not to sound as nervous as I felt, I was not very good at admitting when I was wrong. “I also shouldn’t have said those things about you. I think I was in denial about finally liking someone. We should have never fought over a guy.”

Jessica sighed before hugging me, “It’s fine, honey bunny, that’s all I needed to hear. I said some nasty things to you as well. We are both guilty,” she said, leaning back to look at me, “Now, would you like to some dinner? I made chicken parmesan with garlic butter spaghetti.”

“That sounds good,” I said, still feeling embarrassed as I dried my tears with the back of my hand.

“Come on, help me set the table. We are going to talk about boys and drink wine.”

That night we stayed until late talking about everything that had happened in the last three day that we hadn’t spoken to each other. And just like that me and Jessica made up. Now, I just needed to figure what to do about Loki.


	5. In Which an Accidental Meeting Leads to More

Things had been hectic during the last hour of my shift because a whole bunch of high school girls on a volleyball championship trip decided to stop at the coffee shop. Also, my telepathy was on overdrive and I could hear a lot more that usual, which was giving me a headache. Nothing worse than being able to hear a whole bunch varsity teenage girls’ thoughts on makeup and boys.

I was glad to finally be out of work and on my way to the park to relax. After having all this stupid chatter bouncing in my head, I would finally get a chance to be by myself. All I wanted to do was lay a blanket under a tree and read a book until sunset while eating the pastries I stole from work.

I was trying to figure out a spot to lay down my things when I saw Loki just sitting in a bench reading a book. I debated whether I should go talk to him or if I should just go to my spot. In the end I wanted to talk to him since we hadn’t seen him at the coffee shop for a few weeks and I knew that I needed to patch things up with him even though he’d been a total asshole. Part of trying to let people back into my life and stuff.

While walking towards him, I could hear in my head what he was reading. Huh, he was a William Blake reader.

I approached him and stood in front of him, “I didn’t know you were a Blake fan,” I said, pointing at his book and trying to look calm but inside I was a fucking mess. I wanted to talk to him but I wanted to run away as well. Nothing new, I was so done with myself being like this.

“He’s not bad for a dead poet,” he said, never raising his head from his book.

“No one at the coffee shop has seen you in a while. We’ve all been wondering where you’ve been.”

“Oh, here and there,” he said, still looking down at his book.

Everything about this was awkward, and I was freaking out because I didn’t want to hear his thoughts and find out that he didn’t want to see me ever again. I was about to turn around and leave when he said, “Don’t just stand there, sit down,” while patting the bench with his hand without looking at me.

I nervously sat down next to him and waited for him to say something but he just kept reading. I put my bag down only to realize that I’d been gripping it so hard that my hand hurt. When nothing was said after a few seconds, I pulled out my own book and began reading. I could hear him in my head reading poetry, but after a while I had kinda blocked his words and really got into my murder mystery book. His reading became a pleasant hum in the background, like the ocean’s waves at the beach.

When he finally spoke, it took me a few seconds to remember where I was. He had to repeat himself again to make sure I’d heard him, “I said, why do you care if I go to your little shop or not?” He had finally closed his book, and he was looking attentively at me. All of his attention was finally on me. I closed my book as well and nervously smiled at him because I had no idea of what to say to him.

“Well, I do. You are one of our regulars and you haven’t shown up for a few days,” I said, instantly regretting saying it. That’s not what I wanted to say. I wanted tell him that I have feelings for him but I just said the safest thing I could think of.

“I went home for a few weeks,” he said, almost looking as disappointed as I felt about myself, “I had things to sort out,” he then turned back to his book.

I didn’t want the awkward silence any more so I smacked my hand right in the middle of the book he was reading so he would pay attention to me, “I think we need to talk about what happened.”

“Nothing to talk about. You are not interested in me. I guess I shouldn’t have shifted to my female form even though I was trying to please you. No need for a talk,” he said, as he lifted his book to continue reading. He was getting on my nerves with his oversimplifications so I planted my hand on his book once more “Loki, just let me say what I need to say.”

“I’m trying to read here, could you please remove your hand?” he said, smiling menacingly at me as he grabbed my hand to move it out of the way.

“Well, I’m trying to talk to you,” I said, but I was so done with this stupid back and forth so I grabbed his face and kissed him. He seemed surprised at first, I could feel his body tense against mine, but he relaxed a few seconds later and actually began kissing me back. This time I didn’t feel the urge to run away. I could feel his hands all over my waist pulling me closer to him, his tongue entangled with mine was giving me chills all over my body. If we hadn’t been in the middle of a park, I would have ripped out his clothes right then and there but I still had some decency left in me.

The kiss seemed to go on forever but it must have only been a few minutes, “I thought you said you didn’t like me at all,” said Loki, raising a brow and smirking, “Is this how you show someone how much you hate them?”

“I’m not really sure if I hate you for real” I said, smiling at him, “I’ll have to spend more time with you to figure it out.”

He rolled his eyes before saying, “By the Norns, I knew one day I would be punished for my evil deeds but I never suspected it would be this brutal. I should just have stayed back home,” he said, smiling mischievously at me.

“Ugh, don’t make me regret kissing you already,” I said, trying to stop myself from kissing him again, “By the way, where’s home?” I said, trying not to laugh at his super dramatic comment.

“Asgard, ever heard of it?”

“Nope, never.”

He stood up and extended his hand towards me, “Do you want to see it?”

I looked at him, then at his hand and then back at him, “You mean like now now?”, I said, sounding a little bit alarmed. He just looked at me smiling expectantly, so I gave up and grabbed his hand. He pulled me closer to him and put his arm around my waist, “Just hold on tight and close your eyes, ” he said, I could hear amusement in his voice, “Heimdall, please.”

Before I could ask what he’d just said a bright light shone over us and sucked us up. I forgot all about trying to act cool and screamed at the top of my lungs all the way until I felt my feet land on firm ground.

I pushed away from him and punched him in the chest with both fists a few times yelling at him, “What the fuck is wrong with you? You almost scared me to death, you asshole” before he grabbed my fists in his hand to stop me from punching him.

He laughed for a while before he was able to talk at all, “I didn’t know you could scream so loud, I think you might have permanently damaged my left ear” he said, as he released my hands from his hold, “Also, it would be great if you could stop calling me asshole. That’s not my name.”

“Well, yeah, maybe if you had warned me about the tunnel of death, I wouldn’t have been so freaked out,” I said, giving him the stink eye. I was about to yell at him some more when I became aware of my surroundings. We were not at the park anymore, instead we were in some kind of golden observatory and a man all clad in golden armor was observing me.

“Where the hell are we?”

“Bruna, this is Heimdall, all-seeing and all-hearing guardian of Asgard.”

I waved at him, “Hi, Heimdall… of Asgard.”

Heimdall smiled and nodded at me before turning his head towards what seemed nowhere. Not a man of words, I guess. I looked around me, “When you said visit your home I thought you meant like somewhere a couple hours away or something like that. Is this even Earth?”

“Why don’t you follow me and figure out for yourself?”

He used some sort of magic and my clothes changed from my t-shirt and jeans to a long black dress, “If we are walking around Asgard you might as well dress the part.” He then changed his clothes as well from his black pants and shirt to an all leather kind of armor.

“I don’t know how you did this but you should know that I hate wearing dresses,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. He then grabbed one of my arms and pulled me, dragging me away from the dome we were under until we were standing in front of a rainbow bridge. Yes, a bridge that seemed to be made out of a rainbow. I don’t remember the last time that I did mushrooms, but this was beginning to feel pretty close to it.

He assured me a few times that the bridge was safe and solid. He finally gave up and carried me in his arms despite my protests only to drop me halfway through the bridge, “As I told you before, the Bifrost is perfectly safe.”

Once my panic passed, he somehow summoned a horse and we galloped towards this Asgard place he calls home. It was my first time riding on a horse but it wasn’t terrible compared to the light tunnel.

As we rode, I wasn’t too sure what I’d gotten myself into, but I couldn’t wait to see what adventures awaited me with Loki at my side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES/WARNINGS: This is the final chapter for this imagine but I might write more later on because I like Bruna way too much to never write about her again. Thanks everyone for reading my fic!


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